Some Kind of Trouble
by DaggersBloodPain
Summary: Harry receives a journal from his mother, sent to him by one he least expected. In it he finds the story of the strong, vivacious, woman Lily Evans used to be and it gives him the strength to follow his heart. Slash and femme-slash. Lily/Narcissa HP/LM
1. Like Johnny and June

**Some Kind of Trouble**

**DaggersBloodPain  
**

**Summary: **Harry receives a journal from his mother, sent to him by one he least expected. In it he finds the story of the vivacious woman Lily Evans used to be and it give him the strength to follow his heart. Slash and femme-slash. HP/LM, LEP/NBM

**Disclaimer:I do not own Harry Potter! **Nor do I own any of the songs titles I use in chapter titles. I will give credit to song artist beneath each chapter title.

**WARNINGS! This story will contain homosexual content primarily of the lesbian variety with a little gay thrown in for balance. This means Sex between people of the same gender! There will also be mentions of sadomasochism, bondage, and sexual harassment! Language will get dirty and there will be adult concepts other than sex. Pregnancy will also enter this story towards the end. **

**Chapter One**

**Like Johnny and June**

(Heidi Newfield)

Harry Potter was lazily staring out of his dorm window. The four other boys he had spent his last six years at Hogwarts with were sound asleep, which coincidently was the same state in which the raven-haired wizard wished he could be in. With the moon shining low in the sky and the stars shining near as bright as the moon the grounds of Hogwarts castle were easily viewed as it crept towards four in the morning.

Harry let out another pathetic sigh as he continued his vigil through the night. This was yet one more night where sleep eluded him, his dreams had become so real he shuddered at the very thought of reclaiming his bed. For once in his short life his dreams were not nightmares, much the opposite in point of fact.

His teenage hormones had finally caught up with him and his lusty visions were not quite what he had been expecting. For starters, the person was decidedly male, which gave him a moment's pause, but didn't bother him too much. Secondly, the man was married, which brought all wistful dreams of a happy future to a screeching halt. Third, the man had a son at Hogwarts, who was actually several months older than Harry was. The final nail in the coffin of his wet dream was the fact the man had tried to kill him on several occasions.

He had tried to just push the feelings to the side and ignore it, but that didn't go so well especially since the object of his teenage lust was the new Defense teacher at Hogwarts. Every time he caught sight of long white blond hair or heard the soft tap of the snake headed cane he felt his body react.

Thus Harry was avoiding sleep like the plague, otherwise the man would invade his dreams overwhelm his senses and he would wake up wet with a name on his lips, "Lucius."

When the sun finally peaked over the horizon and it was safe to go down to breakfast, Harry pulled himself from the ledge he had been sitting on and got ready to greet the day, without getting a wink of sleep.

The Great Hall was mostly empty this early in the morning. He hadn't woken any of his friends so Harry ended up wandering in alone. Sitting at his usual spot at the far end of the Gryffindor table he filled a plate with a light breakfast and ate slowly trying to kill time between now and when his friends would arrive.

He did not see a lone owl ghost its way into the hall on silent wings, long before typical morning post time, he only noticed the solitary bird when it landed on his shoulder waiting patiently to be relieved of its burden. The owl was carrying a small package covered in brown paper and carefully sealed with twine. All in all pretty ordinary except Harry hadn't ordered anything, nor had he been told to expect something by one of his friends.

Shrugging at the oddity he absently stroked the owl and gave it a piece of bacon before it flew off, all while he just sat there looking at the package. With a glance to see if the hall was still mostly empty, which it was, he pulled the package closer to himself and carefully untied the twine letting the brown paper fall away to reveal a book of some sort and a letter. Remembering his first year and another unidentified package he opened the letter first.

_Dear Harry Potter,_

_This is a journal left in my possession by a very dear friend of mine. I don't think you will believe that until you have read the journal but it is the truth. I lost the only person I ever truly loved the night you lost your mother and I have thought for many years when the right time would be to give this to you, and now seemed to be that time. I hope you cherish the words on these pages as much as I have and know the words are the truth no matter what you have been told to believe before this. _

_I have been cold and downright cruel to you in the past, I had no choice, you will understand more when you read this. Please believe me when I say things have changed a great deal since the days written about, but the main point remains the truth. I loved Lily Evans and still do to this day, we were ripped apart by both duty and lies, read and learn all you can._

_If you take nothing else from this journal remember to stand strong and follow your heart, tradition and society be damned. Don't take anything for granted and live each moment like it was your last. For my love and I our time is over, for you it is just beginning._

_Live free young one, live free,_

_Narcissa Lyra Black Malfoy_

Harry couldn't breathe as he read through the letter over and over again, and each time he read it the words remained the same. Narcissa Malfoy the mother of his rival and the wife of his obsession had just sent him his mother's journal along with the claim that they had been in love.

He nearly passed out at the thought, and unfortunately by the time he had read the letter for the sixth time his fellow Gryffindors were sliding into seats around him, forcing him to cease his panic or face the overly curious stares of his friends. This was personal, and private, just like his dreams he felt like being selfish for once and keeping something for himself.

His mother's journal clutched safely to his chest and Narcissa's letter folded neatly and stashed in a pocket of his robes he crept out of the hall back to Gryffindor tower. Classes be damned this was more important. Thus he stripped down until he was comfortable, cast a locking charm on his curtains, and pulling his covers over himself he settled down to read.

The pages were yellowed and the ink was faded, but that didn't matter because after just a few sentences he was caught, stuck in the brilliant tapestry made from the words of one vivacious Lily Evans.


	2. Not Ready to Make Nice

**Some Kind of Trouble**

**DaggersBloodPain  
**

**A/N** This chapter goes to the past and is written from Lily's PoV.

Reading key

"normal speech"

'normal thoughts'

_'Harry's interludes'_

(Short thoughts from Harry) there will be very few of these if any but I had to mark it.

_letters_

**Chapter Two**

**Not Ready to Make Nice**

(Dixie Chicks)

"Oh come on Lils it was just Snivelus, will you please forgive us already!" James Potter was busy trying to persuade the beautiful red haired witch to forget the greasy Slytherin and come sit with the Marauders on the train taking them to their sixth year at Hogwarts.

"For the last time James Potter his name is Severus use it, and what you did was cruel and you should have known better. Stop bugging me and go away already, I was having a perfectly good conversation without you." Lily delivered what was beyond any doubt a dismissal, but the stubborn lion didn't seem to get the picture.

"He called you a mudblood! Are you just going to forgive him for that, but not us?" James nearly begged it was kind of pathetic actually.

"Yes, I am forgiving him and not you, he would never have said it without your influence. You hurt him James, if you know what's good for you leave now before I decide to never speak to you again." She said it with such brutal clarity James knew she was being serious.

He turned and walked from the compartment looking for all the world like a dog with its tail between its legs.

"You didn't have to do that," The quiet words served to bring Lily's focus back to the black haired wizard sitting in the far corner of the compartment. She had always been amazed at just how small Severus could make himself sit, and today he was doing a spectacular job of trying to fade into the seat.

"Oh stop that Severus, you know very well I wasn't going to leave you like this, how bad was he this time?" She chided gently as she went over and sat behind him. When she settled her slim hand on his shoulder he let out a sigh and released the magic of his glamour.

Lily was met with the sight of black and blue bruises, a split lip, and a blossoming black eye. They looked deep, and fresh, less than twenty-four hours ago if she had to guess.

"Dear Merlin Severus, we have to get you out of there!" Lily exclaimed seething at the sight of the bruises, conjuring up a cloth and a small dish of warm water, thankful for her gift with Charms. She began to dab at the drying blood left from the partially healed lip, it was still oozing a bit. Unfortunately this was not the first time she had cleaned the blood off her friend, and it would probably not be the last.

Severus took the cleaning only so much before reaching up and grabbing the slim wrist in a firm, but not painful, hold stopping her movements and forcing her to meet onyx eyes. "If I go back there again, it will be to kill him." She knew he wasn't joking.

"I have half a mind to join you in that," She spit out angrily, upset at the pain inflicted on her best friend.

"Do my ears deceive me or is a Gryffindor plotting a murder in here? Didn't know you had it in you Evans." The smooth voice slipped into the compartment looking up Lily and Severus were met with the familiar form of Bellatrix Black.

"Didn't know you had it in you to care Black," Lily answered calmly turning to finish cleaning the blood off Severus.

"Never mistake curiosity for caring Evans," Bellatrix continued the verbal sparring match.

"Would you two give it a rest already? All you two ever do when in the same room is squabble, if I didn't know better I would say you two enjoy it far too much." Severus shut them up quickly after that statement, and he wasn't apologetic for it at all, he had a glaring headache on top of the visible bruising.

"What did you want Bellatrix?" Lily managed to ask without insult.

"I was running from a thoroughly pissed off Potter and co, I heard a goody-goody Gryffindor plotting death and just had to see what was going on. What on earth did you say to Potter to set him off like that?" Bellatrix asked curiously.

"I told him something he didn't like, obviously, and you didn't come here by chance so talk." Lily commanded.

"She was looking for me," Severus interrupted the two girls before the discussion grew more heated. Bellatrix tossed him a glare but didn't deny it.

"Why couldn't you just say you were looking for him?" Lily was actually a bit confused, if she had been looking for Severus why didn't she just say so.

"Because my darling sister would never want to ruin her reputation." A third Slytherin came into the compartment and for a heartbeat Lily figured she would be overrun by them sooner or later, she was already outnumbered.

"I heard what Potter was saying, or shouting more like, did you really stand up for a snake against him?" Narcissa asked curiously.

"No I didn't stand up for a snake against him," Lily managed to say with a perfectly straight face, though her eyes were ablaze, "I stood up for a friend."

"Good answer Evans, now go away, we can take care of him from here." Bellatrix butted in.

"Sorry to disappoint you Bellatrix but I am not going anywhere. I am staying with him and you can't stop me." Lily's fiery temper showing itself to the Slytherins for the first time, Severus just sat back in a mixture of amusement and apprehension, he had seen Lily angry before.

"Lily you.." He was cut off quickly by the red-head.

"Don't you dare say a word Severus. I am staying here. I would rather be with the entire Slytherin house than James Potter at the moment so you're stuck with me." She answered forcibly.

"He really did upset you didn't he?" Narcissa asked amazed as her sister was struck silent at Lily's words.

"We will not be speaking for a while that's for sure." Her eyes had changed from fire to ice in less than ten minutes.

"Where do you stand Evans with Silver or Gold?" Bellatrix asked pointedly.

"I am color blind." Lily answered back lightly.

"Hmm… an answer like that could be taken to mean you stand with both, or you don't stand with either one." Narcissa murmured quietly measuring up the Gryffindor witch.

"I guess you will just have to wait and see for yourself then, won't you?" Lily challenged, moving over to sit down next to Severus drawing the injured boy down until he was letting his head rest on her shoulder. She whispered softly to him so the rest couldn't hear. "Rest now Severus, everything will be alright."

'_Harry closed the book for the moment, marking his page, and rubbing his tired eyes he couldn't help but be shocked at the opening of the journal. Lily had covered the first meeting with the Slytherins in excruciating detail. _

_He was actually upset that his snarky Potion's Master had been beaten, Lily hadn't said by whom yet but Harry assumed it was a relative. He knew somehow that the wounds on Snape's face weren't the only ones, and he was worried about any other injuries he hadn't shown._

_Bellatrix actually acting like a human, a very suspicious and argumentative human, but human none the less was shocking in it's own right. Throwing in Narcissa's calm logic was icing on the cake of insanity to Harry. _

_He knew his mother had a passionate temper, he had heard enough stories to know, so that wasn't shocking. He hadn't known there was ever a time she would rather be with Slytherins than her own house. Although he was beginning to understand how his mother and Narcissa may have gotten close enough to spark curiosity toward the other. He had wondered how his mother had gotten involved with the Slytherins in the first place but if she had done it through the friendship of one of their own he could see it happening._

_With a trip to the bathroom and a call to Dobby for a snack to tide him over, he settled back down to read more of his mother's life. He was fully caught up in the story now and even the call of sleep wasn't strong enough to pull himself from a world long past.'_


	3. Home

**Some Kind of Trouble**

**DaggersBloodPain  
**

**A/N** I just wanted to say I am working on getting the background connections forged and explained before I start any serious work on the main pairing. Trust me the romance to come will fall into place a lot easier if you understand the character's mind sets in relation to each other.

**Chapter Three**

**Home**

(Three Days Grace)

With Severus asleep on her shoulder the train compartment fell mostly silent. The occasional sound of a cloak rustling or a page turning was the only reminder that the compartment indeed held other students. Lily just stared out of the window with an arm around Severus keeping him safe. She was thinking of how they had met.

Lily was amazing in Charms and was a gifted Potion's student. Severus was astonishing at Potions, but his Charms work wasn't as good as it could have been. He had been tired of the Marauders pranking him and him not being able to get the Counter right without trying several times. He had discreetly asked Flitwik if he had any extra time for a few lessons.

Flitwik had not had the time it would require with both his teaching and head of house duties, but knowing why the Slytherin needed help his big heart went out and started looking for a suitable student to help.

That was when Lily Evans walked into the room. All Flitwik had told her was he had a student who needed a little extra help, but he didn't have the time to help the student. She readily agreed to help him, already having a pretty good idea it was one of the Slytherins from Flitwik's evasion of her questions. She figured it would either work out or not and it wasn't her fault if it didn't turn out right.

Severus and Lily were a little uneasy with each other at first. Gryffindors and Slytherins simply did not mix no matter how well intentioned the effort was. Even these two, who hadn't spoken two words to each other beforehand, still had to work through preconceived house ideals. After all some Slytherins were truly cruel and some of the Gryffindors were arrogant and foolish, Lily and Severus had to learn that those two personalities were found in all the houses.

Over time things did become easier for them, but it wasn't until one shocking revelation happened that they truly became friends.

Lily had been looking for Severus on the train, hoping to find out if he still wanted help in Charms. She found him in a compartment alone, nothing out of the ordinary in that, but what she saw when she went inside was terrifying in its own right.

He had yet to perfect Glamour charms, which were difficult charms to begin with, and even harder when you have to cover a large area for an extended period of time. Without a protective glamour, Lily had seen every mark, scar, and bruise left on the Slytherin. He had been too slow to pull his cloak closer around himself. She just knew these marks were no accident, there was no way, not even the Marauders had ever managed to hurt him that badly at one time. This had been happening over an extended period of time.

Lily had cleaned him up and promised to help him master glamour charms, all without a word of pressure on telling her what had happened. She asked for nothing in return for her aid and willing gave an oath of silence to never reveal what she saw to any Gryffindor. She had only done it to help him, and he knew it. They were friends from that day forward. No one in either Gryffindor or Slytherin had figured out just how close they were. She was his sister now, in all but blood, they were siblings.

That explained why even though the compartment held trusted members of his own house, he allowed himself to fall asleep on Lily's shoulder.

The two female Slytherins never left the compartment after they had entered. There was no mention of who they were sitting with before, or even why they had decided to stay even after knowing Severus was safe. All in all the ride to Hogwarts could have been far worse than it had been.

When the quartet felt the train slowing down to make the stop at Hogsmeade Lily gently woke Severus up from his apparently much needed slumber. He blinked open his eyes, quickly orienting himself just like any well trained Slytherin, and pulled himself upright with a near inaudible groan of pain.

"Severus are you going to need Madame Pomfrey?" Lily asked worriedly.

"I will be fine Lily, now that we are home I can brew the potion's I need myself. I am in no immediate danger there is no need to bother Madame Pomfrey." Severus answered after careful assessing of his pain.

Lily did not miss the reference to Hogwarts as home. It broke her heart to hear him say such things. She loved Hogwarts herself, but her home would always be wherever her family was. "If you insist, but you should probably let me put the Glamour back up, I can tell you are still exhausted." Lily conceded, whispering the spell to cover up the bruises on her friend.

Knowing it would not be good for them to be spotted together too often Lily took her leave of the compartment, but not before addressing the other girls. "Please take care of him, I will try and keep James and Sirius reined in but I do not know how well that will work."

"Like we would take orders from you Evans!" Bellatrix protested.

"We always protect our own," Narcissa reminded at the same time as her sister.

"I can take care of myself!" Severus yelled getting angry at the girl's actions.

"No, you can't," Three voices rang out at the same time, causing the girls to quickly quiet and Lily to make her escape.

Lily was hoping to avoid James for as long as possible. She knew both him and the rest of the Marauders were over their shock at her defense of Severus, and now they would just be angry. She knew they wouldn't hurt her, but she was not looking forward to the headache she knew was coming.

XXXX

'Harry had to stop and take another break. His eyes were watering from focusing on Lily's small handwriting. He also wanted some time to think over the latest information the Journal held.

His mother had met Snape because HE needed help with a class? He had known from various sources Snape and his mother were seen together a lot in the library. He had not known who had needed the help, or that it was Flitwik that came up with the idea of bringing them together.

The fact that Lily and Snape were as close as siblings was a little unsettling, if they had been so close in school why had Snape made his life a living Hell during Hogwarts? Harry knew his dad had been cruel but surely if his mother had been a friend it should have tempered the rage. What had changed him so much from than until now?

The only way he could hope to find out was to keep reading, but his eyes simply refused to focus any longer. Setting aside his glasses and snuggled deeper into his blankets he let himself drift into sleep with one final thought on his mind. 'Snape thinks of Hogwarts as home, just like me.'


	4. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

**Some Kind of Trouble**

**DaggersBloodPain  
**

**Chapter Four**

**Hit Me With Your Best Shot**

(Pat Benatar)

Two weeks, it had been two long, agonizing, slowly passing weeks since the Hogwarts Express incident and James Potter was still fuming. In the Great Hall, during classes, and even in the evenings within the Common Room all that could be heard was his constant whining. The total count was 12 jinxes, 6 hexes, and 2 fairly harsh curses flung in his general direction as he went about his days moping.

To one studious Gryffindor female this was simply unacceptable behavior on his part, and thus spent the majority of her time away from the bellyaching Potter and with Severus in the library. Though as their meetings grew more frequent they drew more attention to themselves, Lily couldn't care less, but Severus was concerned for her safety and made a point of telling her so on a fairly regular basis.

Their study sessions so far had only included the two of them for as long as they had been meeting, but as the attention on them grew, so did the number of people sliding closer and closer to their table. Most other students at least attempted to be subtle, even though it was blatantly obvious what they were doing, but there was a few who just up and sat with them.

Every single one of those that actually came to sit at their table were Slytherins. Lily felt uncomfortable around so many of the people who seemed to hate her for the very blood in her veins. She knew Severus would protect her if he had to, but didn't like to put her friend in the position where he had to chose between her and his house. Severus could ill afford to have his own house against him when every other student at Hogwarts had such a poor opinion of him.

There were four Slytherins who spent their time with her and Severus, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix and Narcissa Black, and Sirius' little brother Regulus. Apparently her words to Potter on the train had spread through the snake house and those closest to the pair were trying to find out more.

Lily just couldn't shake the feeling something was going on around her that was just out of her reach. It was like the Slytherins were testing her for something, but for what she had no idea. She just pushed thoughts of conspiracy as far from her mind as she could and continued her studies with Severus the same as she had always done. Not ignoring the others present but not being what you would call friendly.

"Just what do you think you are doing Lily!" The outraged voice of James Potter came roaring through the library, followed by calls for silence.

"I'm studying Potter, maybe you should try doing it yourself a little more often. Then you may not be so baffled when others engage in it." Lily replied nonchalantly as she flipped to the next page in her defense text.

"I knew that Lily, I meant why are you surrounded by Slytherins?!" He yelled only slightly less loudly.

"It is their school, and library, too James. Where they chose to sit is not up to me, and I don't mind either way. Now shut up, and get away from me until you grow up." She responded snapping the book closed with more force than strictly necessarily and stalking off into the shelves.

"You just wait I will find out what you have done to my Lily and you will pay," James warned the Slytherins who had been avidly watching the exchange since he had come charging into the place.

"She is not yours, and if I have my way, never will be so leave Potter you are not wanted here." Severus spoke up, his anger at James for lily overwhelming his usual self-preservation instincts.

"It is you who is not wanted Snivelus, I will make you wish you had never been born." James growled as his anger finally had a target.

"Too late Potter, now just leave." Severus answered not wanting to fight in the library.

Well James was simply too angry to let it go and swung out a fist slamming it into the skinny boy's nose, hearing a satisfying crunch, he finished by saying. " You are simply not worth the energy using magic would take." Wiping off his bloodied hands on the sides of his robes he left the library with a smug smirk on his face, sure no one would take the anti-social Slytherin's side over his.

"Come on Severus let us get you to Pomfrey." Narcissa said gently trying to coax Severus out of the shock the punch had thrown him into.

"No Narcissa, He wouldn't want to go there, your common room would be better. He will feel much safer on familiar ground he knows the Marauders can't get to." Lily had heard the altercation between the two boys and had rushed back to find James leaving and blood streaming down her friend's face.

"Fine, he just can't stay here." Narcissa agreed as she lead the docile Slytherin from the room the rest of the group following protectively.

"You are the first Gryffindor to ever willing hear this password, if you so much as hint about to anyone else the consequences will be dire." Lucius warned as they came to the entrance. Lily nodded in acceptance before he spoke. "Basilisk," and a bare stretch of stone wall opened in front letting them enter and try to deal with Severus.

'_I never knew just how bad Professor Snape had it in school. My mother and him must have been very good friends he seems to be the only one she talks about so far,' Harry thought to himself as he paused to rest his eyes once more. _

'_I wonder when mother will start to notice Narcissa, I mean Narcissa did give this to me so she must come in sometime. I just want to know what made everyone change so much.' Harry mused as he rubbed between his eyes to ease the tension headache growing behind them, but soon enough his mother's words drew him right back in._

**A/N **This is where I left off on Shadow of an Echo, anything beyond this is new._  
_


	5. Cry Little Sister

**Some Kind of Trouble**

**DaggersBloodPain  
**

**Chapter Five**

**Cry Little Sister**

Severus wouldn't let anyone but Lily tend to his broken nose. She was holding back the anger at James Potter the whole time she was setting the bone and cleaning off the blood. She had never been so angry with Potter before, no matter how cruel he had been, this was over the top. It was all her fault for antagonizing him, she knew that, but he would pay for it the next time she saw him. No one talked to her as she seethed in rage but they all gave their support to Severus analyzing both the damage and the healing.

"I don't know Severus, its broken pretty badly, Evans is doing a good job but without magic it still may not heal correctly." Lucius told the younger Slytherin, trying to get him to go to the infirmary and have it taken care of in an instant. Doing it this way was going to take a lot longer, and like he had said had more risk of it healing wrong.

"No infirmary, I don't care if it does heal wrong, I don't want to go." Severus put his foot down and Lily realized that his reluctance to see the medi-witch probably came from the fact he hadn't fully recovered from the summer and he would rather die than let anymore people know about that than he could possibly get away with. Her anger redoubled at the thought of his home life and she had to take a deep breath to steady her hand so she didn't do more damage to his nose while cleaning it.

"That's as much as I can do," Lily declared only after every spec of blood was gone from his face.

"Thank you Lily," He responded squeezing her lightly in a hug. "I am going to lay down for awhile, will you be ok here, or do you want to leave?" He asked her quietly enough the others couldn't hear.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle things on my own, now go take care of yourself." She reassured him.

Severus got up from the couch and left the group to recuperate in his dorm room, he knew his housemates wouldn't physically hurt Lily, but he knew full well you didn't have to be hit to be hurt. She just took his place on the couch and curled her legs up under her, mimicking Severus' way of making himself unnoticed.

"Don't you want to go running back to the lions?" Bellatrix asked her mockingly to hide her curiosity as to why she was staying. The others turned to Lily expectantly, all wanting to know the same thing but were waiting for someone else to ask.

"I thought you would have realized by now that I never really cared about the houses, and I may just carry out my threat to kill him if I see Potter right now. I am already here, and I don't feel like heading back to the library, so I'm staying for awhile. Its not like I can hurt anything down here, there is a whole house of backup for you, and only one of me. Relax and stop being so callous Bellatrix." Lily lectured her like she would a child.

"I will stop being callous, as you put it, when you get off your high horse Evans." Bellatrix responded sharply.

"That's enough you two, Bella she can stay, Lily you are welcome here this one time. I for one understand why you don't want to go back to Gryfindor right now, and no one would have a problem if Severus was still in the room so we should act like he is and just stop all the childish bickering for a few hours." Narcissa brought the arguing pair out of their own little world, with matching glares that soon fell apart as they realized Narcissa was right.

"Evans, how long have you and Severus been friends?" Lucius was going to take this opportunity to learn as much as he could from the source, and to Lily's credit she held up under the grilling very well and by the end she had told their story up to this point without stumbling or cowering. It was admirable how well she did really, Lucius was very good at intimidation when he wanted to be.

When Lucius was done questioning her Narcissa told her with a small smile, "I can see why Severus likes you, very nice job at handling Lucius." Narcissa ignored the scowl sent her way from the blond Malfoy.

"Lucius and Severus are not all that different when they get interested in something. I just treated Lucius like I would Severus and it worked out alright. Though I don't see the importance of knowing how we are friends, to me the important thing is that we are." Lily replied.

"I don't know about you Lucius but I'm bored of just sitting here, want to go practice our transfiguration?" Bellatrix interrupted Lily and Narcissa with her question to Lucius, which he agreed to, at the same time as Regulus slipped away. The youngest Black was always quiet and Lily wondered why but hadn't had a moment alone with him to ask yet.

"I guess its just the two of us now," Lily observed as the group drifted apart, and Narcissa moved to sit on the couch next to Lily instead of across from her to make talking easier.

"So it would seem." Narcissa agreed with Lily. "Look I want you to know I meant what I said. I do know why Severus likes you, and I can see how well you care for him. I just want to know if its deeper than I thought? You don't have to answer, but I do admit I am curious to know."

"Oh Merlin, no, nothing like that. I think of him as a brother Narcissa. I know that's a common statement but I really do think of him like that. I am closer to him than I am with my own sister." Lily explained.

"Oh you have a sister? I didn't know that." Narcissa admitted.

"Yes, her name is Petunia, but we haven't really gotten along since I got into Hogwarts. I think she is jealous, and it is making her distrustful of magic. I think she may even hate magic at times, even as she insists its not real and I am actually in a mental institution of some kind." Lily admitted.

"I never thought of that before, I guess it didn't occur to me that muggleborns may have siblings that didn't have magic and how they must feel. In Pureblood families we have squibs, that's more of a social stigma, jealousy isn't the main cause of hatred between siblings like that. Most of the time a squib is completely disowned before they are old enough to remember they even have siblings." Narcissa decided to be honest about Purebloods and squibs in return for Lily's frank admission about her own situation.

"Is it really so important to Purebloods to have magic that families would really get rid of their own flesh and blood because they don't have it?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Yes, I imagine it happens in muggleborn families that can't handle magical children too. I may be a pureblood, but I am not blind either, I know there isn't all that big a difference between us. Some of the others do not agree with this, my sister included." Narcissa responded.

"Well that certainly explains a few things about why you too act so different." Lily's smile was genuine at that, she was glad she has the chance to talk with Narcissa. She just may be able to make friends with this forward thinking Slytherin.

_'Harry was having trouble believing what he just read, yet he didn't have a reason not to. So his mother was able to fit in with the Slytherins even when they weren't sure about her. At least he knew how she had gotten in contact with Narcissa, it had been through Severus. Speaking of Snape Harry wondered if that broken nose had anything to do with the professors current looks. It would be pretty upsetting if he found out that most of the current Hogwarts students made fun of a healed injury that his dad had given Snape._

_How did my parents ever get together after this? I am beginning to believe that mother and Narcissa may have had something happen between them, but if that did happen I had to come from somewhere right?_

_'Only one way to find out' Harry thought as he returned to the yellowed pages of his mother's journal.'  
_


	6. Decode

**Some Kind of Trouble**

**DaggersBloodPain**

**Chapter Six**

**Decode**

**(Paramore)**

Severus was making his slow way up for dinner on the Saturday following the confrontation in the Library. His nose was steadily healing, a black and purple bruise spread across the area, and unfortunately it was showing signs of healing at a bad angle. Severus knew he should have had the medi-witch look at it but he hadn't wanted the woman to know about his injuries sustained over the summer. Most of those were healed but two of his ribs were still tender, they must have been truly broken not just fractured for the pain to last that long. He was by himself, a rarity since the James Potter incident, but it wasn't to remain so, because just as heard raised voices in the corridor ahead of him, he was pulled unceremoniously into an alcove behind a suit of armor. He struggled, banging his injured ribs in the process, trying to get to his wand before he heard the familiar voice of his kidnapper.

"Quiet, Evans is in the middle of giving Potter a royal dressing down, I don't want to miss it." Bellatrix explained softly, listening in on the rather loud argument coming from the stated pair.

"Its his brother James!" Lily was yelling and Severus had no idea about what.

James, even from this distance they could tell, was puffed up and blustering, "So what, he is a sneaky little Slytherin, reading Sirius' journal like that! He is probably reporting back everything he finds to the worthless family of his! They kicked Sirius out this summer you know that? I'm telling you that slimy snake is a spy and traitor!"

"Well James, why was Sirius' journal out where a student from another house could take it? Its not like Sirius and Regulus have classes together, they are in different years. You said Sirius was kicked out of his house, well couldn't Regulus have just been worried about him? Did you ever think of that? Sirius hasn't spoken a kind word to Regulus since he was sorted into Slytherin, if Regulus wanted to know Sirius was alright he couldn't just go up and ask. How do you even know it was Regulus who took it in the first place? You said Sirius only found out about it after Regulus _returned_ the journal. Now if Regulus was really the bad guy you think he is why would he risk punishment giving it back? Would you have given up the chance of reading the diary yourself if it fell into your hands? So what if he read it, it doesn't mean he is reporting back to their mother. For all you know Regulus gets treated just as bad as Sirius does. Now march yourself down to the hospital wing and apologize now, I don't care if Pomfrey yells at you and turns you in, you deserve it. I have half a mind to turn you into Slughorn myself, I would too if we weren't in the same house and I have worked hard to earn those points you would be throwing away." Lily didn't have to yell, the venom in her voice was so toxic it even made Bellatrix shiver.

"Regulus is in the hospital wing?" Severus whispered in Bellatrix' ear.

"Yes, apparently my foolish cousin decided that entering Gryffindor territory by himself to return that stupid journal was a good idea. Regulus didn't take it, Sirius dropped it, and like Evans said, would you resist reading it if it fell into your lap like that?" Bellatrix explained shrinking back deeper in the alcove as Lily marched the still angry Potter towards the hospital wing.

"I would pay good galleons to see the look on Regulus' face if Potter actually apologizes." Severus replied, feeling the question of reading it was such and obvious answer it wasn't worth the wasted breath it would take to voice it.

"Oh I think he will, Evans is pretty determined in this case. It makes me want to see the fight they must have had after he broke your nose." Bellatrix commented, envisioning the argument with glee. Who knew Evans had such a vindictive side.

Severus realized then just how close the two of them had managed to lodge themselves together. It was not a large alcove, and while nether of them was particularly heavy, it was still a tight squeeze for two people, and without the distraction of the fight the feel of her warm body against his was very noticeable. To take his mind off the feel of her soft curves he spoke. "I don't want to think about that, but I do wonder if she knew we were here."

"What makes you think that?" She raised an eyebrow at his paranoia.

"She made sure to keep Potter's eyes on her, and while they walked past she put herself in between us and him. She also switched from yelling at Potter to lecturing him not too long after I arrived, and the lecture told us everything we would need to know about the fight. I think she did know, but didn't mind if we were here, I don't know for sure but she may have been glad for the backup." Severus tried to explain his thoery.

"Good thinking Severus, I thought you might figure it out." Lily had come back, either Potter hadn't made good on his apology or it was the world's shortest sorry ever given. "You might like to know Regulus has been released, oh I had so wanted to have Potter apologize."

Severus and Bellatrix were too dignified to blush as they extracted themselves from the tight confines behind the armor, it was Bellatrix who replied first. "I can almost understand why you protect our Severus, but why Regulus, you don't even know him very well?"

"I couldn't let Potter get away with what he did, it was very wrong of him. I may not know Regulus very well but that doesn't mean I wont defend him. I have a sister too and we don't get along, but I still want to know if she is sick or hurt. I thought that might be the case with Regulus, and Sirius is always losing things. It wasn't hard to figure out the truth. Potter is blinded, I really hope he wakes up soon or he is in for a rude awakening when the real world hits home." Lily defended her actions, not backing down an inch.

"Now why is it dear sister that whenever Lily does something nice for one of us, you always have to interrogate her afterwords. She may not be a Slytherin but she hasn't done anything to us to make us think her untrustworthy." Narcissa had arrived, also heading to the great hall for diner like Severus had been planning on in the first place.

Bellatrix huffed a bit at that but backed down from questioning Lily further, she wasn't done evaluating the red haired Gryffindor but she would heed her sister for the moment.

"Now don't get all huffy with me, you know as well as I do that you were acting rudely, I won't demand you apologize this time but in return please keep your questions in check." Narcissa reprimanded her sister before addressing the other two. "Come on if we don't get to the great hall soon diner will be over."

Narcissa waited until Bellatrix and Severus had gone ahead before getting Lily's attention with a hand to her shoulder. "I wanted to thank you for helping Regulus, I know why you help Severus but helping my cousin was done out of simple kindness and it wont be forgotten."

"Helping people is what I like to do, its just in my nature. This is the first time one of you had defended me though, and I very much appreciate it." Lily's reply was simple and heartfelt.

"Bellatrix was out of line, and she knows that, its just with you she sees competition." Naricssa answered.

It seemed to Lily that with every answer she had ten more questions. "Why am I competition when we are not in the same class?"

Narcissa laughed, and I mean genuinely laughed, at that. "You mean you honestly can't see it? Bellatrix has had a crush on Severus since she was in her third year, he helped her out of a rough situation, and she has been enamored ever since. Even though she knows there couldn't be anything serious between them she still wants to try, and until she is absolutely sure you don't like him that way she won't stop analyzing you."

"Why couldn't there be anything serious between them?" Lily grasped at the only question that came to mind smoothly.

"Most Pureblood families arrange marriages to prevent accidentally inbreeding too closely, these are not always permanent but there are conditions that have to be met to change them. For the Black family, as a blood oriented family, engagements will not be broken for a different suitor if they are not a pureblood, and Severus is not." Narcissa tried to voice a concept so ingrained in her it was hard to vocalize.

"I think I understand since there isn't a way for them to marry, even if they did date in school it would never last, no matter how much they loved each other." Lily tried to understand.

"Basically yes, some people go ahead and date anyway letting themselves have fun while they can, but that way is more painful when the inevitable separation happens." Narcissa admitted, before changing the subject. "I wasn't joking about dinner if we want to eat tonight we had better hurry up."

Lily knowing this wasn't the time or the place for a longer discussion agreed and they entered the hall together, Narcissa inviting Lily to eat with the Slytherins knowing she needed time to cool off before facing Potter and his pals again.

_Harry closed the journal and rested back against his pillows again, going over the new information. 'Ok so mother protected anyone, not just Snape, that makes me very proud to be related to her, she didn't just sit around and let bad things happen. Now my dad, thats another story, what happened to him? Was it the war, is that what woke him up?_

_Arranged marriages, hmmm, I hadn't considered that as a reason they had to hide their relationships from people. It sounds like they would be reluctant to join in a relationship in the first place, let alone admit it publicly. So far everything is sounding so unreal, what happened to these people? I really I hope I am right in thinking the war changed some of them, or the world I know is all a lie.'  
_


	7. Die Another Day

**Some Kind of Trouble**

**DaggersBloodPain**

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait, I hope you like the update. I am introducing the war into the story in this chapter. This is where I start the process of taking my characters and turning them into the more 'canon' versions, or as canon as fanfiction gets. I am going to be putting my characters into their own personal Hells and see what comes of it.**  
**

**Chapter Seven**

**Die Another Day**

(Madonna)

**Dark Mark and Tragedy in London!**

**Death Eater's spotted in Liverpool!**

**Diagon Alley, Is It Safe?**

**Where is Your Gold Really Going?**

**Do You Know Where Your Children Are At?**

**Half-Blood Family Slain, No Survivors!**

Each week a new headline came through, either telling about another gruesome death, or giving advice on how to prevent attacks. The students within Hogwarts were nervous about the growing terror they could feel coming from the adults around them. Whispers of allegiances, fears, and blood lines were passed around faster than you could think. One minute you were friends, the next enemies, and everyone dreaded the day they would be called to the Headmaster's office to be informed of a death or arrest in the family.

The Professors worked carefully with the students. They were slowly forming evacuation and defense plans, but were forced to set the pace to such a slow crawl they didn't alarm the already uptight students. Accidental magic breakouts were happening more often in the younger years due to the stress and the older students were questioning their beliefs and that of their families, worrying about the day they would be forced to make a choice on which side to fight. There was a war coming, and everyone felt its effects, the young and old alike.

The time had been very hard on Lily. She had come to care for and respect her Slytherin friends as much, or more, than her Gryffindor ones, but the tension in the school was on the verge of ripping them apart. She was a muggleborn in the middle of a war that killed her kind. Most of her friends were at least half-bloods, but most were purebloods, and she didn't know where to turn for support or advice. It was like her world was crashing down around her, and she had no safe place to land.

She hid in the library for the majority of time she wasn't in class. Other than the Great Hall it was the closest thing to neutral territory in the castle. She could at least pretend that everything was going to be alright if she was surrounded by the smell of old ink and parchment. Severus stayed by her side as much as he could, but being a half-blood Slytherin, he was under more pressure than Lily was and she didn't want him coming to harm for her sake. It made Bellatrix happy that Lily kept her distance from Severus, but even the hotheaded witch wasn't acting like her normal self. The Black family was busy grooming its younger members into the perfect Dark scions. Bellatrix knew, more now than ever, that she and Severus were never going to have a normal relationship, but that didn't stop her from hoping.

With all her hiding and worrying, the person that finally broke through to Lily was one she was least expecting. She had been sitting in the back of the library, minding her own business, just staring at a book not absorbing anything written on the page. The stress must have really gotten to her if she didn't even have enough gumption to read anymore. Her silence was broken by a calm, cultured voice, "What are you running from?"

Lily looked up to Narcissa, she had come in alone, and didn't appear to have any books with her, almost like she had come just to talk to Lily. "What do you mean? I'm not running from anything."

"You don't really think I would believe that do you?" Narcissa asked, calmly seating herself next to the red-haired witch. "I have been watching you pull away from all the others around you. We are all having our own troubles, but I want to know what YOU are running from. You were never one to run away from something horrifying, or you wouldn't have stood by our Severus for so long."

It was than that Lily noticed the tenseness in her pose, the tiredness and frailty of Narcissa, she was always so calm and collected people rarely ever saw just how much stress she was enduring or how badly it was affecting the delicate girl. In that moment Lily saw the truth behind the frosted glass, and realized there was worse fates than her own. She felt she owed Narcissa the real answer, the one the Slytherin had come to hear. "I was running from the truth, I didn't want to hear that the people I love are now my enemies. Blood lines seem to be the only thing people talk about anymore, and mine are garbage in many minds. I was afraid to hear just how deeply that ran in the people I had around me."

Narcissa smiled softly, glad to hear the honesty coming from Lily. "I thought as much. Lily I won't lie to you, the days and weeks ahead will be difficult, there are things stirring in the older families that haven't been spoken of in years. My parents are being stricter with us every day, and my sister's recent marriage to a muggleborn is only adding fuel to the flames. Bellatrix and myself are holding our breaths, waiting for them to revoke the marriage rules already set and have us married off before graduation." It seemed like as soon as Narcissa started talking, she couldn't stop. It was like the words pained her to say, but it hurt more to keep them in. "We are running out of time. Lily, those of us that have been around you all this year are not going to abandon you by choice, but this war is going to force us to chose. You are worried that as a muggleborn you will be hurt or killed for your blood, but it is just as dangerous for a pureblood who doesn't want to fight."

Lily listened to Narcissa in horror. In all her panic and worry about her own blood status, she hadn't stopped to think about the position her pureblooded friends were in. They may not want to harm her, but family loyalties might force their hands. "Dear Merlin, I didn't stop and think. I'm so sorry." She admitted before continuing. "I'm sorry for running away when it sounds like you, and the others, need all the support you can get."

"I understand why you did it, I just wasn't sure if you realized it yourself if that makes sense." Her tiredness caused Narcissa to slouch somewhat in her chair, making her look even more vulnerable then normal.

"I guess it does. I didn't do a very good job of thinking things through, I just started drifting and it left me blind." Lily replied, trying not to bring attention to how worried she was about the other girl, now that her eyes had been opened to the pain. "What can I do to help you?" She found herself asking, without realizing she was going to until it was already said.

"I don't even know to tell the truth Lily. Things are getting dangerous for us, and I mean all of us, on either side. Those of us that don't want to fight need somewhere safe to catch our breath and regroup. There is just so much going on that its hard to take all at once. Even here I feel exposed and cautious, I'm never able to relax and unwind the way I want to." Narcissa responded with startling candor.

Lily couldn't stop herself, one minute she was sitting quietly listening, the next she was hugging Narcissa and she couldn't remember how she got to that point. Something had snapped and she couldn't not comfort the other girl. "Narcissa we will find you the safe place you need, you and the others, we will face this, and find a way to beat it."

Narcissa didn't protest, or pull away. Lily thought she might cry, or scream, or do something, but no all she did was hold on for dear life. She held Lily so tightly it was like the Gryffindor had become her rock in the ocean.

_'Harry couldn't believe what he had just read. He sat in shock at the pain and confusion he felt in his heart at reading his mother's words. Words he noticed were oddly smudged, like tears had fallen while the ink was fresh, and many more tears beyond that. His heart broke for the two woman, and he felt a driving force to keep reading, to know one way or another just how things worked out for thee people he had heard stories about his whole life, but no one had seemed to know them the way Lily told it. With haunting clarity.'_


	8. Russian Roulette

**Some Kind of Trouble**

**DaggersBloodPain**

Explanation for absence is posted in my profile for those interested in knowing what happened to make me disappear off the face of the earth.

Those waiting for the physical scenes between Narcissa and Lily won't have to wait much longer, I simply wanted to bring that out on a more realistic time scale. Neither of the two woman are the jump right into bed types, so we will be waiting until the right time.

**Chapter Eight**

**Russian Roulette**

(Rihanna)

Lily and Narcissa clung to each other through the next few weeks, both needing the strength the other provided. As they did, the others around them slowly started pairing off. The danger outside Hogwarts forcing them together in a way that might never have happened otherwise. Bellatrix and Severus had to be the most discreet, Lucius didn't mind if Narcissa found comfort elsewhere, but Rodolphus Lestrange was a different story.

Rodolphus had already graduated, but the contract between him and Bellatrix was firmly established and the younger Lestrange brother Rabastan had been tasked with keeping his fiance out of trouble. Rabastan wasn't a bad man, in fact he was a very honorable one, which was exactly why Severus had to avoid him like the plague. The man would not waste any time loyally informing his brother that Severus had been tempting Bellatrix to stray outside the contract. Rodolphus was much colder than his brother, and Bellatrix hated the thought of being under that man's thumb, she was just glad there was two and a half more years before she graduated and had to face him.

Lily had been confused enough to ask Narcissa why the younger sister was paired with the older Rodolphus and Narcissa with Lucius instead of the other way around. It came down to politics. The Malfoys were richer and better connected, they had first rights to marriage contracts and they had chosen the older daughter. It would have been Andromeda but she had broken Black family law and now Narcissa was required to fill the contract. If Andromeda had stayed than Narcissa would have been betrothed to Rodolphus and Bellatrix to Rabastan. Bellatrix felt bitter towards her eldest sister, she felt she would have a much better chance at a happy future with the younger, and more reasonable, brother.

They needed a plan to hide the budding relationships. Things were still early and barely physical, but as time passed it would get harder to hide, it was better to plan now than wait until it was too late.

To that end the same group of friends Lily had found herself surrounded with in the library earlier that year had an emergency meeting in an empty dungeon classroom, feeling if they were caught by a teacher they would prefer it to be Slughorn. If a student were unlucky enough to stumble on them there was an Obliviate charm ready on Lily's lips, she hoped she wouldn't have to use it, but she would protect herself and her friends if it came to that.

"What are we going to do?" Bellatrix broke the silence by asking, curling into Severus as she spoke, holding onto him for dear life. She rarely got to show him affection of any kind so she lavished it on him when they got the chance.

Lucius shifted in the seat he had conjured, fidgeting a bit with nerves, "We need to find away to protect each other from our families. Things right now are simply too tense for us to be open about this, maybe in another time it would have been possible, but for now we need to keep this under close guard." He danced around the specific issue, still coming to terms with the fact the women he was betrothed to was well on her way to falling in love with another woman.

It came as both a shock, and relief, for Lucius because he had assumed such a traditionally minded family as the Blacks would have ingrained in them the importance of upholding these contracts, just as his father had done to him. It seems the younger generation in both families was fighting those traditions, because no daughter of the Blacks was resigning herself to fate and as for Lucius himself well. His tastes lay in a different direction to put it lightly. He had made a promise to himself with his preferences became apparent that he would honor any contracts made between him and a woman just as much as the woman did. Narcissa sparking a relationship outside of that left him free to do the same.

"The answer is simple for Lucius and I," Narcissa began, "Neither one of us is inclined to follow our contract to the letter, but we don't have to let the school know that. In public he and I can act as a couple, but in private do what we wish. Bellatrix and Severus are going to be harder to cover, Rabastan would never let the relationship slide, he would tell his brother, and Severus has no contract to use as a cover story. A bachelor and a betrothed woman spending too much time with each other would be noticed. Any ideas on a way to help them?"

Lily seemed to hesitate before replying, "I may have an idea but you are not going to like it."

"What is it? If it can help at all tell me!" Bellatrix nearly begged, the strain of hiding this and the fear of being found out had taken a toll on her control, and she always had been the most emotional of the sisters.

"I happen to know a Pureblooded male that has no contract. He also claims to adore me and will probably do whatever I ask him to. If I were to be in a relationship with this person, Severus as the friend people have seen me with for the past few years, would have no choice but to tag along with us regularly to make sure he was treating me right after all that happened. Also as his best friend is also your cousin Bellatrix you and Regulus would also come along to reach out to the lost family member. Rabastan could be persuaded to leave you alone because with Regulus, myself, and the other pureblood supposedly present he would have no reason to suspect Severus. Once we shake off your tail all of us can go our separate ways, the Marauders know all the hiding spots and secret passages in Hogwarts." Lily explained as the plan came to her, seeing the sad look on Narcissa's face at mentioning having a relationship with someone else.

"You're talking about Potter aren't you?" Lucius asked, but didn't really need an answer as he contemplated the possibilities.

"You want me to deal with my brother again?" Regulus seemed to protest, his face pale with apprehension.

Narcissa's slightly hurt voice added to the questions, "Just how deep a relationship are you suggesting?"

Lily knew this would happen, but she didn't miss the look of hope that passed between Severus and Bellatrix so she soldiered on for the sake of her friend. "Yes I'm talking about James, he is a hothead, but he has a good heart. For me he would do this. Yes Regulus I want you and Sirius to talk again, really talk, I know how much the separation hurts you and I think it does Sirius too. It was James that got mad at you for reading the journal, I wouldn't be surprised if Sirius dropped it on purpose for you. Narcissa stop thinking like that, I want nothing more from him than you do Lucius. I want the same type of arrangement and it will be an added protection for us too. Lucius is graduating this year, we will still be in school for another year having James around will stop suspicion after your betrothed leaves."

Severus was the one deep in thought now, he asked the one question he assumed the others had forgotten, "Just how are you going to get Potter and his cronies to agree to this? He hates us, it would be easy for him to tell his father and have it get passed into the Pureblood gossip chain. This could get a lot of us in very deep trouble."

Lily smiled sweetly, the innocent look totally ruined by the sly look in her eyes. "He may not like you, but I happen to know he hates your families more. He would not sabotage you because it would bring him more pleasure to see you defy your families right under their noses, with his help no less. Plus like I said he adores me and has no contract yet, before I caught his eye he wasn't interested in a long term relationship. If I go to him with this plan, and we go through the betrothal process, he gets to kill two birds with one stone. I know I would be required to carry his heir, but beyond that he would have the freedom to enjoy however many women he wants to. I want children anyway, and Narcissa you have the same duty to the Malfoy family, so we would both be on even ground there."

Severus sighed, not quite the response Lily had been expecting, but his words soon made her understand. "Lily I think you are forgetting something. Potter is a very Light oriented wizard, we are not. If you go through with the contract, and you're right it would probably work, there will come a time when we may be forced to fight each other. We would have no choice but to fight, because by then we would be out of school and the punishment for adultery after the contract had been fulfilled grows exponentially. Think total imprisonment as nothing more than brood mares or breeding studs. Could we all really handle having to fight each other?"

Lily locked eyes with Narcissa, a lifetime passed in them contained in a single moment, "Yes. If it came to that I could. It's worth it. Look at Bellatrix and tell me it isn't." Lily challenged him, looking at the other two males in the room with a hard glare daring them to speak if they thought they could survive it.

Severus did as she asked, and melted on the spot, "Alright, if you can get Potter to agree to this, than I will go along with it. I hate him, but if he does this I can forgive the life debt he owes me for third year."

With the plan set, they all breathed a sigh of relief. No nothing was set in stone, but at least now they knew where they were heading.

It would come down to just how persuasive Lily could be towards one hot headed Gryffindor, and as she tightly gripped Narcissa's hand she vowed to herself that she wouldn't fail.

_'Harry was starting to get used to the shocks contained in the journal. He knew now how his parents had gotten together, but he never thought a marriage contract was to blame. Or that neither one of his parents were entirely faithful. Reading back over the last few pages he realized that had been a very narrow view point. His mother was doing all that she could to keep her friends safe and happy. Seeing as James had to have agreed at some point lead Harry to believe he knew the whole story too. _

_They had made a choice. The best one they had under the circumstance. Harry understood now. He was just glad the journal mentioned his mother had wanted children anyway or he would have had more trouble with it. He didn't like thinking he was nothing more than a side-effect of an evasion plan. _

_Now he was curious just how she got James to agree, and how the whole situation with Sirius and Regulus turned out. Life in his parents' era had been much tougher than he ever expected, and from the amount left in the journal it only got more involved from there on out.'_


	9. Love Like This

**Some Kind of Trouble**

**DaggersBloodPain**

**Chapter Nine**

**Love Like This**

(Blackhawk)

"James we need to talk," Lily approached the hotheaded Marauder cautiously, they had gotten into some impressive rows this year, and she didn't want him to get the idea this was going to end up as another one.

James looked up from the game of chess he was playing with Remus, and he saw something in Lily's eyes in that moment that he had never seen before, a kind of desperation. "Alright, do you want to talk somewhere more private?" He might not have the most empathy of his friends, but he knew that look couldn't bring anything good with it.

Lily nodded her head weakly, leaving James to apologize to Remus for cutting their game short and asking for the map that Moony had on him for the day, it switched between the Marauders who would protect it from the professor's searches. "Come on Lily lets find a safe place and we can talk, you look like you need it." The brunette said to the redhead, leading her out of the common room, following the map to find a classroom empty of people and far away from and classrooms or offices.

They found a good place half way up the astronomy tower. After adding privacy wards just to be safe they sat down to have the most important conversation of their lives together.

"Lily, what's wrong? I have never seen you like this?" He was concerned about her, he had noticed the worry and strain she had been under, but hadn't been able to approach her about it.

"James are you betrothed to anyone?" Lily managed to spit out before starting to tremble, so much rested on his reaction, on her ability to convince him. She needed to protect them all.

James was shocked, he hadn't expected anything like that to come from Lily. "No, my parents tried to match me up a few years ago but the negotiations fell through and haven't been started up again. Why?"

Lily took a deep breath, "I have to ask you something, I need a favor, one so involved I'm not sure I have the right to ask you but I can't walk away without trying."

"What kind of favor?" James was wary of this, Lily knew he would do anything for her, if she was worried he might reject her this was going to be huge.

"I need you to help me protect my friends, things are just as dangerous for them right now as they are for us, they need our help to defy their families. This isn't a game, we are in a lot of danger right now." Lily lost what little color she had left in her face as she spoke, scaring James, he'd been right to worry this was enormous.

"What do they need to be protected from, and what do you need me to do?" He knew this wasn't something silly, Lily never joked about the war, ever, he knew she wasn't exaggerating.

"James, its not just them, its me too. I am a part of it. They don't want to follow their families, they are not mindless sheep, they simply didn't have anywhere to run to like Sirius did. If they defied their families in the war itself, well openly anyway, they are going to be killed. There is only one area that they have a chance of doing what they want and not what their parents dictate." Lily seemed to stall in her speech as she reached this point, up till now it had been difficult but not impossible to tell him the truth, now she was too nervous to go on.

"I can't take them all in, even if I liked them, my parents would never allow so many from Dark families there. They tolerate Sirius because we have been friends for so long, but that would be too much for them." James guessed incorrectly at where Lily was going with this.

"That's not what we need you to do. I wouldn't ask that of you, it would put your family in danger to. They are prepared to stay with their families, it will be difficult especially if we ever end up fighting against each other, but there would be too much to lose if they walked away now." Lily tried to explain, "Plus if they stay there is a chance they can learn something useful and pass it along. We have to protect the source at all costs, but it could save lives if even one raid was stopped beforehand."

James was still slightly confused but he latched onto something she had said, "What would they lose by walking away now? What's so important that they would follow that madman even when they don't want to?"

Lily came close to smiling at that, she was a bit surprised James hadn't caught on already since her first question had been about betrothals. "Love. It comes down to that. Several of them are not happy with their betrothal arrangements and are deeply in love with someone else. Most of us have some kind of cover, but there are two of us that do not have enough. With us interconnected if they fought their families and ran to the Light, and even one of them got captured, than it would tear the others apart. We are not willing to risk that."

"Wait, you sound like you are in love with one of them. Its Snape isn't it?" He'd barely held himself back from using the foul nickname the Marauders had come up with, but since Lily hadn't spoken to him for weeks after the last time he used it he stopped himself now.

Lily chuckled darkly, "It would be much simpler if that was true and I probably wouldn't be talking to you about this. Yes I am in love with one of them, but it is not Severus, he is part of the couple that needs more protection."

"Who is it then, and what am I supposed to do? You wouldn't ask me to help him if you didn't believe I was your only chance. You know there is too much bad blood between us for anything less to work." James knew if he didn't step up and at least give her a chance to explain, he would lose Lily forever. She wouldn't forgive him if he walked away now.

"It's Narcissa." Lily was kind of pleased with the slack jawed expression that James' face rearranged itself into. "It's starting out slow but I have never been happier around someone before. She and Lucius have a contract between them, but both have decided to be as faithful as their partner is. With her seeing me Lucius is free to look outside the contract as well. The reason I am even thinking about asking you to do this favor for me is because in doing it I get to protect not only my brother Severus, but Narcissa's sister too. I am the only one who could possibly bridge the gap between Bellatrix and Severus so they could spend time together without her betrothed finding out. He is not nearly as forgiving as Lucius.

"Before you ask the way I can do that is by forming a contract with you, with the Marauders' help we can cover for those two. It would get Sirius and Regulus talking again, and give Narcissa and I another layer of protection. It would give you an heir and a life with me, while allowing you to see other women when the fancy strikes you. Don't give me that look, I've seen you through the years, monogamy is not your strong suit. You get the best of both worlds with this deal. Not to mention if you do this Severus said he would cancel the life debt the Marauders' owe him for trying to feed him to a werewolf. We know you pulled him back before he got hurt, but that was to protect Remus not help him, so you still owe him." Lily finally stopped as the plan came spilling out of her mouth.

James looked like a deer caught in the headlights, though to give him a break he was a stag animagus, he just had everything he had worked towards the last few years dangled in front of his face, the only catch was in getting what he wanted he would have to help the Dark Slytherins he hated. It came down to a single question, did he want what Lily offered more than he wanted to spit in the face of Snape? "Yes, I'll do it. Now just how exactly do you intend to use us as a diversion?"

Lily felt the broad grin cross her face at his answer, and was telling him the plan she and the others had cooked up a mile a minute, while James listened in a half-daze. This could be the worst or the best decision he had ever made, but it would be awhile before he knew which that would be.

XXXXX Femme-Slash scene, please skip if you are not ready to read such things written by a lesbian (I've toned it down a bit to fit the site regulations, so its Mature but not NC-17) XXXXX

A few hours later Lily flung herself into Narcissa's arms, crying happy tears. She had told the Slytherins James' answer in their favorite hiding spot. Reactions had varied between ecstatic and apprehensive, but they were one more step closer to being safe. Now Lily and Narcissa had escaped to Narcissa's dorm room, a handy spell on the hangings around her bed preventing anyone from overhearing or disturbing them.

"Narcissa I love you. I have for awhile now. This is going to work, you'll see. It won't be easy but there will be a day when we don't have to jump at shadows." Lily pulled herself together enough to say, dropping a gentle kiss on the crown of Narcissa's head.

Narcissa smiled at the simple affection, she was not used to being treated like this, she was either treated like a pain of glass or an air-headed society witch, not as a young woman deep in love. "I love you too Lily. I am not as optimistic as you are, I just can't be, but I believe things will work out, somehow they will. We just have to enjoy what time we have encase the worst does happen." The smaller Slytherin snuggled into the Gryffindor witch, with Lily's arms wrapped protectively around her.

"Yesterday is over, tomorrow is a mystery, today is all we have. If you can't hold onto anything else, hold on to that. We are here together right now, yes the worst may come, but it isn't here yet." Lily dropped feather light kisses on Narcissa's cheek trailing down to her neck.

Narcissa didn't feel like talking anymore, instead she tilted her head giving Lily more access. Lily taking this for the consent it was, got a little more serious in her kisses. Lingering longer in one spot, pressing her lips to Narcissa's snow white skin firmly before moving to the next area.

Finding a ticklish spot Lily enjoyed the sound her lover produced halfway between a giggle and a moan. Grinning mischievously she repeated the action, loving the way Narcissa's body arched against her touch, responding to her every move. The contented sounds were soft and intoxicating, like a well aged wine. Lily was getting drunk on kisses.

They had played before, kissing and snuggling, enjoying each others' presence, but when Lily felt Narcissa's hands creep up and start loosening her robes she knew this time would be different. She allowed Narcissa to remove the constricting robes, as she did the same to the blonde laying beneath her, leaving them both in their uniforms, the only difference being the color of the ties around their necks.

"How far do you want to go?" Lily asked sliding her hands under Narcissa's sweater, leaving them lay on the button down shirt underneath feeling the warmth of her smooth stomach seep into her fingers.

"I don't want to think," Narcissa liked the feeling of having Lily's cool hands under her shirt making her feel like a gift about to be unwrapped. "Keep going, I'll stop you if it gets to be too much." She promised knowing Lily would never hurt her or push her further than she wanted.

Lily nodded then slid her hands up over the delicate skin of Narcissa's abdomen, bringing a trail of goosebumps with them. Her hands moved teasingly close to Narcissa's chest before skimming down her side and up her back pulling Narcissa into a sitting position so she could remove the uniform sweater from her, pressing their bodies together as they rose, meeting her lips for a kiss as the shirt came free. Narcissa returned the favor, ridding Lily of the matching gray sweater. Smashing their lips together again, Lily fumbled blindly with the neck of Narcissa's shirt, loosening the tie, and undoing the top few buttons, while Narcissa decided to work from the bottom of Lily's shirt to the top.

Once she had the tie off and shirt undone Lily pressed Narcissa back against the headboard, mindful enough to make sure she landed against the pillows and not at an uncomfortable angle. Lily decided to leave the shirt undone but still on, liking the feel of running her hands over Narcissa's body above skin and under cloth, making her feel all the more illicit in their actions. From the pleased moan that escaped the pale girl's lips Narcissa enjoyed it too.

Kneading the skin under her hands, Lily kissed Narcissa deeply on the lips, putting every bit of emotion behind it, projecting her love and devotion. Actions spoke louder than words sometimes, she would protect and care for Narcissa, forever. Pulling away from her lips had a dissatisfied whimper escape the Slytherin, only to be replaced by a relieved sigh when the lips returned to her neck, nibbling a bit here and there, moving steadily down wards.

Lily took her time when she reached the smooth expanse of skin over Narcissa's abdomen, licking and kissing every inch of skin, biting gently at random times to keep Narcissa guessing. Lily felt the slender body beneath her rise up into her kisses, taking advantage of the position Lily moved so her leg nestled gently between Narcissa's, putting steady pressure on the highly sensitive place hidden there. She kissed her way up the slim torso until they were both comfortable, before stealing another kiss from her lover.

Moving slowly against each other, still half-clothed, they relished the feel of each others' lips, the sensation of skin on skin as their upper bodies pressed together, and the filling heat building in their core. Lily rocked gently forward and back, the delicious friction putting stars in her eyes, feeling like nothing she had ever felt before.

Neither girl was prepared for the sensations that washed over them as their pleasure peaked, both started this as innocent as the day they were born. All Lily knew as the fireworks continued to fire in her head was she hoped the feeling of having Narcissa beneath her, holding her tightly, riding the same feelings, would never end. So connected, so pure, so perfect.

_'Harry was blushing, deeply, his cheeks had never been so red. He had enjoyed the conversation between his mother and father, he had finally seen a glimmer of the good man the adults around him had tried to tell him he was, well all except Snape. What was with that anyway? His father had agreed, was going to help him, Harry suddenly had a nasty feeling that more than one of these people would not be staring in any fairy tales, well maybe if they were by the Grimm brothers but that was beside the point. _

_Once the journal had gotten to the scene following the conversation he had honestly tried to skip over it, to simply skim and move on, but he had been drawn in. They had loved each other so much, had cared so deeply, that the icy princess of Slytherin gave total control to his mother, and his mother returned that trust with affection and care. It was private, intimate, yet achingly wonderful. Harry only hoped his first time would be so good. _

_Where did everything go from there? It seemed like everything was in place, now time just had to catch up with them, even if it was a happy ending Harry was determined to stick it out until the end.'_


	10. Our Truth

**Some Kind of Trouble**

**DaggersBloodPain**

**Chapter Ten**

**Our Truth**

(Lacuna Coil)

Lily figured it was better to introduce the Marauders to her group slowly. James was the ringleader so it fell to him to be the first of the group to publicly interact with the Slytherins. If the twitching and fidgeting was anything to go by as he slid into their table at the library, he was doing a valiant job of fighting the urge to run as if Hellhounds were hot on his heels.

The acts were already in place, but that didn't stop the tremor from making it's way down James' spine as Lucius mercury silver eyes drilled into him imperiously. "Well Potter, I don't know how you managed it, but with the contract forming between you and Evans, it falls to us to make sure you act like the gentleman I know your parents tried to raise you as. We owe her a debt of gratitude for her actions at defending our house honor, and we will uphold that debt in any way we can. Treat her with care, or you will wish you had never been born." Lucius warned smoothly, the debt giving a politically acceptable reason for the Slytherins to defend Lily that even their families could not object to no matter her blood status. The threat was as real as the debt, they would draw and quarter James if he hurt her because she came to him in desperation.

"I would never hurt Lily, intentionally or otherwise, if any action of mine causes her pain or distress I give you full permission to do your worst to me." James replied seriously, a fire lighting his eyes. Yes, he was surrounded, and the older snake intimidated him greatly, but he was a Gryffindor and he would not back down. Not when he knew this would happen when he agreed to this in the first place.

Bellatrix laughed then, a laugh thick with derision and a touch of darkness, "Oh really? And what does a golden lion like you know of our worst? Are you sure you want to make a pledge like that?"

"You are not the only Purebloods in this school; the Potters are almost as old as the Malfoys and just as old as the Blacks. I know the basics of what gets passed down in those houses, and I still stand by my words, If anything happens to Lily, do your worst, I would deserve it." Was it just him, or was the youngest Black scarier than Lucius?

"I'll hold you to that," Severus muttered under his breath, but not quite low enough to avoid the warning glare sent his way by Narcissa. It was going to be hard for all of them to get along, but the purposeful antagonizing had to stop, or this farce didn't stand a hope in Hades of working.

Lily broke in then, smoothing out some of the tension, it was a fools hope to remove it all but every little bit helped, "I can protect myself if I have to. I appreciate the concern, but if he hurts me, you will have nothing left to curse but a particularly warty toad." She warned calmly, not even looking up from her charms notes.

James had a bit of morbid curiosity wash over him, "Why a toad?"

"Its tradition," Lily's small smile was a bit wicked, and it caused both James and Narcissa to shift a bit in their seats.

"Which tradition? I didn't know there was such a thing." Regulus spoke cautiously, he was always far shier than his brother, but this plan would hopefully put him back into contact with Sirius. He needed to get on James' good side first though, or Sirius wouldn't talk to him.

"I know you are all aware of the muggle myths about magic, one of the more common stories is the man who angers a witch and gets transfigured into a toad. Granted in most muggle myths all witches are bad, but the toad thing always seemed like an interesting punishment to me." Lily explained to him, noticing the others had listened in too.

"I think a slug would be worse, or a flobberworm," Bellatrix seemed to be honestly considering that, and it made more than a few of the people at the table shoot nervous glances her direction.

Lily nodded, "Oh there is plenty worse, I just thought using a muggle myth to punish him would be poetic justice."

"Something tells me you are a very bad person to make angry, you are very vindictive when you want to be," Lucius noted.

"I've known that one since first year," James admitted, relaxing slightly after five minutes had passed and no one had hexed him yet.

Lily blushed slightly and shook her head, "What? You didn't all think I was some delicate little flower did you? If you are mad enough to attack someone, might as well do it with a little finesse."

"I never thought you were delicate," Narcissa whispered into her ear, so the table couldn't hear her, "Beautiful, strong, and amazing, but not delicate."

"Do you mind? I know it can be hard to handle." Lily whispered back, ignoring James on her others side doing his best to eavesdrop.

"I love you all the more for your fire, it feels wonderful after being cold for so long," She admitted.

Lily slid her hand over Narcissa's discretely, no one at the table would comment, "I'm glad, because I love you too, and I never want to let go."

"Then don't," Narcissa's smile was sweet and soft, a gesture rarely seen on her face, but one Lily cherished.

Realizing the two girls could use a little privacy, James spoke to Regulus, "I'm sorry about what I did to you, it was wrong of me I realize that now." The apology was long overdue, but at least he had finally done the right thing.

"I knew the way it would look when I returned his journal. I should have done it in the great hall, or had someone go with me, maybe you wouldn't have reacted so badly. Still, please is Sirius all right? He hasn't been talking to me at all, I miss him, I understand why he ran, and I won't tell anyone. I just want to know if my brother is alright." Regulus knew it took a lot for him to swallow his pride and apologize. He had to forgive him this time, it would go a long way towards proving this group was worth saving, and he would be one step closer to being reunited with his brother.

James realized what was motivating Regulus, and his expression softened towards the younger boy. "At least you did return it, a lot of people probably would have kept it, or spread it around the school. I know he wrote things in there that could have gotten him, and the Marauders, in a lot of trouble. I guess I should thank you for not turning him in to the Professors. Sirius is doing a lot better, he needed out of that house. Being the heir just put too much pressure on him and he couldn't take it anymore. My family is taking good care of him, and he is coming around. He couldn't be sure that you wouldn't report back to your family since all the pressure that was on him is falling on you."

Regulus winced slightly, "They didn't have much time before school started to really do much to me, thank Merlin for that, this summer will likely be pretty bad though. Sirius should still watch out, they may attempt to pull him back into the fold a few more times before giving up completely. There aren't very many Black males left, if the name and titles are to carry on, he needs to be brought around. I assume that's what Mother is thinking anyway." Orion Black was stern but more involved with politics than family, it was Walburga that forced the traditions onto her sons.

"I'll pass that along, though you will probably get to talk to him, at least a little bit, before all this is over. He is my best friend, and if you're here I assume you are part of Lily's honor guard." James was glad he had agreed to do that after the hopeful look spread over Regulus' face. The boy looked a lot like Sirius, only a little slimmer and much shier.

Regulus shook his head, "I'm not her guard, instead I'm her friend. Lily doesn't need anymore back up, she has plenty, but nobody has too many friends."

"I agree," James even smiled a bit at the Slytherin as he spoke, proving to Lily as she caught the end of their conversation, that this crazy idea might just work.

'_Harry rested the journal on his lap, and rubbed his aching eyes. With every word written in his mother's smooth hand writing he was drawn deeper into her world, her dreams and fears, there was so much to take in. At least his dad was finally coming around, and the rest of the Marauders would likely follow him. _

_It was nice to hear more of Regulus. The youngest Black was a bit of an enigma to Harry. He had never known Sirius' little brother. He had been little more than a name on a tapestry in Grimmauld Place. He wondered why Sirius never seemed to talk about him, then again it wasn't like he had a whole lot of time with his Godfather. Usually they spoke of his parents, and the Marauders, if they weren't trying to get him out of his latest jam at Hogwarts. _

_It was also good that Slytherins had found a way to protect his mother, even in public. Lily wouldn't have to face the coming storm on her own. He was grateful for that, and it just made his interest in Lucius deepen. Hearing about the loyal honorable man his crush had been in school only made the attraction burn hotter. With every word he read about Lucius, he felt the connection grow deeper between him and the older wizard. If he got nothing else out of this journal, Harry was happy to have that._

_With that last thought he turned the page and began to read on, losing himself to the past once more.'_


End file.
